Is Patheos.com a good site about religion to use?

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Hey everyone. I recently came across this new site that is about religion in general and specific religions. It has some stuff on Catholicism as well but I haven’t looked at it yet. The site looks very interesting but I was wanting some feedback from other people here on Catholic Answers Forums before I take anything on the site too seriously. I did a search of all the forums for information about the site but the most I could find was links to articles on the Patheos site and references to the site which don’t say anything at all about the site from what I could tell.

So, I am primarily here just to get some (name removed by moderator)ut on this site from orthodox Catholics on these forums. Would you recommend the site or would you discourage someone from using it? What is your opinion and why?
 
So far I have read two articles about Catholics and abortion in order to get a general idea of what this site is all about. The first article, admittedly made me angry and that is because it advocated the pro-abortion position, that is, the position that murdering an unborn child is just fine. And their justification for this? Basically that no one knows for sure when ensoulment occurs and therefore we should value the pregnant woman over the unborn baby because we know for sure that the pregnant woman has a soul but we don’t know for sure that the unborn baby has a soul. Well, I believe that every single time fertilization occurs, there is a new person who has a soul that is instantly created by God.

The other article I read took the pro-life position. Its basic stance is that all persons have a right to life and that abortion does not solve any problems. The article uses the example of a pregnant teenager who is addicted to drugs and whose boyfriend abuses her. The article says that giving the girl an abortion doesn’t solve any of the problems that exist, all it does is kill another person. After the abortion has occurred, the girl is still addicted to drugs and she still has an abusive boyfriend so therefore no problem has been solved. The only difference between the situation before the abortion and the situation after the abortion is that before the abortion, there was three persons but after the abortion there is two persons and one dead person. I agree with this.

So yeah, I am kind of confused right now. I am going to have to read more of their articles before I decide whether or not this site can go on my favorites list. 😛
 
I like Patheos’s Catholic portal just because they have a really good lineup of bloggers.*

I don’t know if the pro-abortion you refer to is their on content or from a site they offer links to, which include the (bad) NCR, America and Commonweal.

here’s a take on Patheos from a Catholic blog that refused to/wasn’t invited to join:

Star Trek TNG: To Blog Where No One Has Blogged Before
 
Holly3278 said:
So far I have read two articles about Catholics and abortion in order to get a general idea of what this site is all about. The first article, admittedly made me angry and that is because it advocated the pro-abortion position, that is, the position that murdering an unborn child is just fine. And their justification for this? Basically that no one knows for sure when ensoulment occurs and therefore we should value the pregnant woman over the unborn baby because we know for sure that the pregnant woman has a soul but we don’t know for sure that the unborn baby has a soul. Well, I believe that every single time fertilization occurs, there is a new person who has a soul that is instantly created by God.

The other article I read took the pro-life position. Its basic stance is that all persons have a right to life and that abortion does not solve any problems. The article uses the example of a pregnant teenager who is addicted to drugs and whose boyfriend abuses her. The article says that giving the girl an abortion doesn’t solve any of the problems that exist, all it does is kill another person. After the abortion has occurred, the girl is still addicted to drugs and she still has an abusive boyfriend so therefore no problem has been solved. The only difference between the situation before the abortion and the situation after the abortion is that before the abortion, there was three persons but after the abortion there is two persons and one dead person. I agree with this.

So yeah, I am kind of confused right now. I am going to have to read more of their articles before I decide whether or not this site can go on my favorites list. 😛
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Hi Holly,

The first article you mention was definitely not correct; the second one sounds correct from the example you gave.

God bless you for seeking the truth. 🙂
 
Holly,

I just now spent a few minutes in the Catholic section of that site Patheos, and I clicked on something that said “animal sacrirfice”. I read two pages about that false religion and did not see anything there that would edify a practicing Catholic.

There are very good blogs out there (and there were some of them to click on at this site) that are Catholic and are positive for us to read. However, such a mixture can be confusing to those who want to learn more about their faith and then click on a misleading “high-sounding” explanation of something that does not help us in our spiritual journey.

Peace in Jesus and Mary,

Dorothy
 
Thank you everyone for the information and such. I tried to join the site just so I could comment on some of the articles but unfortunately there was some sort of error that happened during the registration process and now I have to wait for one of their technical support representatives to e-mail me back.

That said, I think I am going to join the site and just try to be very discerning in what I read and accept as true. I would like to join the site so I can attempt to refute some of the anti-Catholic and anti-Christian stuff they have on there and also to clear up misconceptions that I may find. However, I am not sure if I want to do that or not. So yes, I am still seeking further (name removed by moderator)ut on this site before I make my final decision.

Thanks!
 
Holly3278 said:
Thank you everyone for the information and such. I tried to join the site just so I could comment on some of the articles but unfortunately there was some sort of error that happened during the registration process and now I have to wait for one of their technical support representatives to e-mail me back.

That said, I think I am going to join the site and just try to be very discerning in what I read and accept as true. I would like to join the site so I can attempt to refute some of the anti-Catholic and anti-Christian stuff they have on there and also to clear up misconceptions that I may find. However, I am not sure if I want to do that or not. So yes, I am still seeking further (name removed by moderator)ut on this site before I make my final decision.

Thanks!
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You’re welcome!
 
That was very funny, Didymus. 😛

I like many of the Catholic bloggers from the Catholic portal on Patheos (Mark Shea, Elizabeth Scalia, Deacon Greg), but I wouldn’t use the general site as my go-to source for info about the Catholic faith.

Each page on the site (including the Catholic portal) is only as good as the person who wrote it. It appears that Christopher Bellitto and Cynthia Stewart are the contributors responsible for most of the info on Catholicism. I’m sure they’re great people, but I wouldn’t base my thoughts on the Church solely on what those two people happen to say. I’d go to the Catechism and the Catholic Encyclopedia first.
 
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